Dream Police

So, the Copenhagen climate summit is over and done with, and it would appear that not too much was achieved with it. Now, show of hands, who actually thought anything would be achieved with it? Anybody?

I would like to be an optimist. I would like to get behind things like the climate summit, and join the facebook group, and go to the rallies, and generally be a part of the team. I just don’t really see the point. At the end of the day, regardless of whatever they decide, who’s going to enforce it?

The Kyoto protocol was hailed as this breakthrough achievement that would help put an end to climate change and save the world. Problem is, there was no punishment for countries that agreed to it and then didn’t follow through. So, how was it any different for the Copenhagen summit? Seriously, can someone explain to me how it was different? I want to believe that it was, and that somehow, a world army had been created to enforce whatever was decided at the Copenhagen summit. I just don’t think that happened.

What has to be understood is that global treaties are kind of useless if there is no outside force to back them up. If there was a commitment from every country at the summit to create a joint military force that would be under the control of some group that would be allowed to enforce the Copenhagen treaty, then maybe things would work out. But I don’t think that will happen.

Furthermore, it’s kind of hard to get a bunch of countries to agree on one thing, when many of the leaders may not be allowed to commit to anything without support from governing bodies at home. For example, Obama went to the summit, and I’m sure he would have liked to create some grand agreement that would have the world using 100% solar power by 2020. But he couldn’t do that, because then he would have to go back home and watch as Congress or the Senate got in the fucking way, and forced so many concessions into it that it really wouldn’t matter anymore.

A lot of people are angry at Stephen Harper for not showing too much commitment to the summit, and showing up late, and not really taking an active interest in it. First off, who didn’t see that coming? Honestly, the man’s environmental policy is practically non-existent and full of so many buzz words and vagueness that it really doesn’t matter. Secondly, I’m not sure that Stephen Harper really understands science or cares for that matter. I mean come on, our science and research minister is a chiropractor who hasn’t the slightest understanding of what evolution is. That, in my opinion, is absolutely unacceptable, yet there has been very little outcry from the public. So Stephen Harper isn’t an environmentalist, but did anyone really think he was?

Now, here’s my issue with climate change. It’s big and complicated. Much more so than any environmentalist would like to admit to. The fact is, you can have ten different climate scientists, and each one will have a different model predicting a different outcome for the future. No one knows what is going to happen, and I have issues with alarmist environmentalists who rile up the public with inaccurate science or poor statistics (oh Al Gore, you sly dog you). I’m not trying to say that climate change isn’t occurring or that it isn’t somewhat human driven. It probably is. I’m just saying that the future isn’t certain, and to act on alarmist ramblings may not be the best idea.

Want to know how to avert a climate change global disaster? Invest in technology. Invest shit tons of money into natural gas, wind, hydro, and here’s a big one, SOLAR! Solar is amazing. It is the ultimate holy grail of renewable energy, and we should be working on it. But, in a surprising change from what most tree hugging pussies will tell you (Greenpeace, I’m looking at you) I also suggest heavy investment into nuclear power. Yes, I said nuclear power. It’s fairly clean and quite safe, when it is properly regulated (which it is in Canada, the United States, and many other countries in the world). If you want to “save the world” then investing into nuclear development is a huge must.

Look, I don’t want to be a dick. I understand that a lot of the protesters (and middle to upper class white university arts students who support them) are just trying to fight the good fight and do something positive in the world (and that is commendable ... I salute you ...scchhhhhwing). But if you want to do something good, go learn about other types of renewable energies, learn the facts, quit listening to Greenpeace, and point your energies toward getting the energy infrastructure in your countries changed. Or if you really care a lot, go become an engineer or a physicist or a chemist or a conservationist, and then go into politics. Because we need better people in politics then we have right now, or at least, we need people who actually understand what is going on.

P.S. I know that it’s not all arts students who are protesting. I’m just being a little bit of a dick. Protesting is actually not a bad thing ... sometimes ... depending on the issue.

P.P.S. I know this might be a little outdated but it's been sitting on my desktop for a few weeks, so I figured I should post it.

(Dream Police is a song from the 1979 album Dream Police by Cheap Trick)